Toronto rental buildings will soon display maintenance ratings
RentSafeTO signs show Toronto apartment inspection ratings with green, yellow or red See what your building’s grade means and how it could affect maintenance accountability
Starting June 15, thousands of apartment buildings in Toronto will be required to display colourcoded signs showing how they performed in city maintenance inspections.
Under the RentSafeTO program, 75% of qualifying buildings received a satisfactory rating and will post a green sign. Another 21% were rated as needing improvement, while 3% were rated as needing significant improvement and will receive a red sign.
City officials say the signs are intended to increase transparency for tenants and create pressure for landlords to address problems, especially when a building stays in the lowest category for more than two months. Landlord groups have raised concerns about stigma, while tenant advocates have backed the measure as a way to improve accountability and housing conditions.